Confiscation in Taiwan: The Laws and Ideas for Reform

This Occasional Paper shows the evolution of confiscation law in Taiwan. It reviews the current state of confiscation laws and policies in Taiwan and also proposes suggestions for reform of the confiscation system. Taiwan adopts both object confiscation, and value confiscation as the methods of deprivation of illegal proceeds. However, confiscation in Taiwan has been ignored for a long time and has just started to be noticed again recently. Because an old concept of confiscation has to be adapted to new crimes, a lot of unfairness and conflict have arisen in the new circumstances. It is therefore necessary to adapt, modify and interpret the legal concept underlying confiscation in new ways so that the tradition of legal confiscation of proceeds of crime can serve new functions and address a wider range of criminal activities. Confiscation in other jurisdictions, like the United States and Hong Kong, is a powerful weapon in the fight against crime through deprivation of crime-tainted property, but confiscation in Taiwan is far behind. The author will explain why Taiwan is far behind and what the country has to do in order to improve the confiscation system. [Occasional Paper No. 21].